Baked French onion soup. Who hasn’t been ordering that since they were a kid?
As far as I can recall, that was the first “adult” thing I ordered in a restaurant when I was a kid.
Seeing all that cheese baked over the top of the crock. Getting to that soggy crouton underneath. Mmmm. That was good eating.
All that cheese and bread made it worth having to eat all those onions. But as I grew up and the novelty wore off, I ordered it less and less.
I do still enjoy it, but I’ve gotten a few “bad bowls” of it over the years. So I tend to not order it when I am out. Plus…who can eat all that and then a meal. That is a mean.

Last year, I thought I’d give it a try myself, but instead of French Onion, I put more of an Italian spin on it and made my own “Italian Onion Soup”.
It doesn’t roll off the tongue like French Onion, but damn is it good. And simple to boot.

TIP: I suggest you make the croutons in advance of making the soup.
Or you can do it while the soup is simmering. Either way, have them ready to go when you need them.
You can read how to make them here: Ciabatta Bread Crouton.

If you really have some time on your hands, you can make your own hearty beef stock. Which I did when I made this one. It adds more complexity to the flavor of the soup.
if you don’t have time, pre-made beef stock will do.

Heat oil in a large pot on medium.
When the oil is hot, add the onions and salt and pepper. Sauté until they begin to soften. About 10 minutes. (DO NOT BROWN!)
Add thyme, oregano and garlic. Continue to sauté for another 2 minutes stirring frequently, so the garlic cooks a bit but does not brown or burn.
Add your stock. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for an hour.

TIP: After about 15 minutes of simmering, taste the broth and adjust with salt and pepper.

Ladle into oven safe bowls (or crocks) and drop your Ciabatta bread crouton on top.
Cover with Fontinella cheese and top with a little grated Romano cheese.
Personally, I just like enough cheese to cover the bread. I don’t overload the top, so it’s dripping down the bowl. It’s just too much cheese.

Place bowls on a sheet pan and under a broiler for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. (You can keep it under until cheese is brown if you like.)

Use pot holders to remove sheet pan. Top with a little more grated Romano cheese (And chopped chives if you like) and serve.

The Ciabatta bread has a great chewy crust to it, which stands up to the liquid in the soup. Because of this, you should serve this soup with a fork and knife as well as a spoon.

An alternative to the large crouton is to use a bunch of little ones. It’s easier to eat, but lacks the presentation value that impresses your guests.

This is a great appetizer that people seem to love and it looks pretty cool too.
What I like so much about this, is that it is completely versatile. You can add, take out or adjust all the ingredients based on your tastes. There really is no right and wrong. I like using some brightly colored ingredients so it looks pretty when you slice into it. The deep red from the sun-dried tomatoes, the black and purple from the olives and the green from the onion. They make a great contrast to the pure white cream cheese.

While cheese is softening, take out a serrated knife and cut off the ends of the bread and then cut the bread into 3rds. With the serrated knife, hollow out the entire center of the bread, leaving only the outer crust.
After this is done, place the 3 sections of hollowed bread into a Ziploc bag and set aside.

Hollowed French Baguette

Put softened cream cheese into a mixing bowl.
Cut tomatoes into quarters. Dice the olives and slice the green onion.
Cut the salami into long strips and then make tiny little 1/8 inch squares.
Press garlic.
Add all ingredients along with a little pepper to bowl and gently fold them all together until well blended. Taste and add salt as well as make adjustments to any of the ingredients.

TIP: DO NOT add a lot of salt. There is a lot of saltiness in the Olives and the Romano cheese. So taste it before you add any salt.

After all the ingredients are blended and adjusted, get the bread back out.
Using a spoon and long butter knife, start stuffing the cheese into one of the open ends of the bread. I usually spoon it in and use the knife to move it further into the center. Once it is about half way stuffed, turn it around and start from the other end. When it is full, roll it tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
Do the same to the other 2 sections of bread.

Let them chill for about an hour. Then when you are ready to serve, take them out and use that serrated knife to slice then in about ¼ inch slices.

TIP: Don’t leave them in the fridge for more than a few hours and don’t cut them until you are ready to serve them.

This is a great dish to serve at parties as little sandwiches. Although it can be messy, so I wouldn’t serve it at a black tie affair. I would stick to the casual paries or when watching football with the guys. The kids love it too!

This is a SLOW COOKER recipe, so give yourself about 8 hours of cook time.

Tip: While this is cooking, DO NOT open the lid. This releases the heat and adds to the cook time. Just leave the top on till it’s done. You don’t need to stir it.

Mix all spices together in a bowl.
Rub the spices into meat and wrap tightly in double layer of plastic wrap.
Then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. I did this about 12 hours before I cooked it.

When you’re ready to start cooking, slice up the onion and make a “bed” of onions on the bottom of the slow cooker.
Then slice the garlic and place that throughout the onions and then pour the beer in.
Unwrap roast and place it in on the bed of onions, garlic and beer.

Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours.

Take pork out and “pull” on cutting board, using 2 forks to sperate meat. Drain most of the beer out of the cooker. Leave the onions and garlic and a little liquid. I used a slotted spoon and just tipped it into the sink.

Place shredded meat back in slow cooker and mix with the onion, garlic and beer.

Serve on buns or WITH BBQ sauce on the side.

On step 8, you could add a cup or so of BBQ sauce, and heat on low for 30-60 minutes if you wanted BBQ pork. That’s good too.

This has been a staple at my family Christmas gatherings, since long before I was born.
When my dad made it, he would make one huge Calzone….1/2 sweet and 1/2 hot. You could tell which side was which before you even cut into it, because he would poke little holes in the shape of an “H” and a “S” into the top of the dough before baking it.

Keep in mind that this will make a massive calzone that will feed a lot of people.
We usually serve it as one of the dishes on Christmas Eve.
You can cut the recipe in 1/2 to make it smaller.

Also pictured below that beautiful calzone is my great grandmother’s dough rolling stick.

Mix meat, fennel seeds, (hot pepper), salt & pepper and fry until pink color is gone from meat.
Let that cool.
In a large bowl, mix Ricotta, eggs, parsley, Romano cheese, salt & pepper.
When meat has cooled, combine meat mixture with cheese mixture.
Roll out bottom crust to fit large sheet pan (sprinkle bottom of pan with corn meal to prevent dough from sticking).
Brush inside of bottom crust with egg whites before filling to prevent pizza from being soggy. (Save egg yolks!)
Fill bottom crust with cheese/meat mixture. Cover with top crust and close edges.
Prick entire top of pizza with fork to let steam out when cooking or it will explode in your oven.
Brush top and sides with egg yolks.
Bake at 375 degrees until done – Approx. 45 min. to 1 hour (depending on oven)
Remove from pan immediately and cool on rack.

TIP: DO NOT COOL IN THE FRIDGE. The calzone will become soggy.

This can be served warm or cold.

When my sister Judi was making it last Christmas eve, she called and asked for the recipe that I had. I sent it to her and I must admit that her Calzone turned out to be the best I’ve ever tasted. You can check it out here: Calzone

I love Cannellini beans. For the past few years I have been
experimenting with a ton of different dishes using them. Aside from being very nutritious,
they have such a great taste. If only I could get my kids to eat them.

I had seen a kind of white bean soup somewhere but did not have a recipe for
it, so I decided to wing it and see what happens. What happened was one of my
favorite soups was born, that’s what. When I made it a second time I added crab meat to it and POOF…..magic was made! I can seriously eat a whole pot of this stuff by myself.

If you like crab, then you have to try this soup. If you don’t, you can leave it out
and it’s still fantastic. But you’ll be missing out on the magic. Seriously, don’t miss out onthe magic.

Put the oil and butter in a pot. Heat on medium low till butter melts.
Sautee the carrots, celery and onion on medium-low heat till all are soft. Do not brown any of them! About 12 – 15 minutes.
Add in the garlic, cayenne, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.
Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. You want the garlic to cook a little, but not brown. (Brown garlic is bitter)
Add the beans and the chicken stock.
Simmer for about 20-30 minutes and then add a handful of Romano cheese.
Simmer another 20 – 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
Use an immersion blender and blend till smooth. (Or pour into a regular blender and blend. Then return to pot.)
The consistency becomes smooth and creamy. No need for cream! But you could add a little to lighten it up a bit if you like. Personally I don’t think it needs it.

About 3 – 5 minutes before you are ready to serve, add the crab into the soup. You just want the crab to get worm.
Ladle into bowls.
Top with salt, pepper and a little more grated cheese.

First off let me say that Mexican food for me ranks right up
there with Italian food. I could eat it every day. Over the years I’ve tried
many different dishes.

One thing that I never really liked was mixing seafood with Mexican food. I
pretty much always stuck to steak, pork, ground beef or chicken.

About 9 years ago I was flying to Canada for a business trip with my
father-in-law (RIP buddy) and on the way to the airport we stopped for lunch at
a Mexican restaurant.

It was during lent, so I was at a bit of a loss when trying to find something
to order. The special of the day was shrimp quesadillas. So I thought what the heck, I’ll give it a try.
Boy was I glad I did. Had I known they were so good, I would have been eating
them for years.
So after years of making steak, pork, chicken, and beef Quesadillas
I decided to give my own shrimp Tacos/Quesadillas a try. I must say, they were as
good as I remember from the restaurant. I’ve made them for friends and family a
few times and I always get people saying “Shrimp? Tacos?”

Who doesn’t love a hot and hearty bowl of chili on a cold
day? Hell, I eat this in the middle of summer too, who am I kidding?

If you are a chili lover, you need to try this recipe. You can adjust the
seasoning blend to your own taste. In this recipe I used some sundried hot
chili powder, that my neighbor bought from the Spice House. It adds a mellow smoky
flavor, but not too much. Good stuff.

Pour oil into a pot and heat to medium.
Add onions and celery and sauté for about 5 or 6 minutes.
Add the can of green chilies and the pressed garlic and continue to saute for another 3 minutes.
Put that mixture in a bowl to the side and add ground beef to the pot.
Brown the meat and drain the grease.

Add the veggie mixture back into the pot, along with the tomatoes, beans, beer and spice mix.
Stir till blended and simmer for about 1 – 2 hours.
About 20 minutes before serving, add the corn into the pot.
Taste and adjust seasonings.

The longer it simmers, the more liquid will cook out and the richer and thicker it will be.

When I was growing up my parents always had at least 1, if
not 2, gardens going in the back yard. Throughout the summer we feasted on tomatoes,
cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and various other fresh veggies.

Every once in a while we would get a monster sized zucchini and
my mom would end up stuffing it with a meat and rice mixture. Sometimes it would
have a tomato sauce on top and other times it would not. I don’t think she had
a recipe for it, although I never thought to ask.

This year we ended up with an arm-sized zucchini in our garden, so I thought I
would try my hand at stuffing it myself. It came out pretty good.

The kids only ate the meat out of the middle, but I ate it for lunch for the
next 3 days.

I can’t stress enough to take time to make your own stock! It tastes better and saves you money.
One of my favorites is Turkey stock. Sometimes I’ll buy a full bird and make various recipes from the meat and then use the carcass to make stock for the rest of the year. (We’ll probably not that long. But the stock will last a few months.)
If you don’t want to buy a full bird, you can make it from just the drum sticks and you can get them pretty cheap at the butcher. (I paid about $3 for these beauties.)

I was over at my neighbor Dan’s house a few weeks back and we were talking
about food, (Dan likes to cook as well.) and artichokes came up. I commented that I have only had them stuffed, but I love them and wanted to try something new with them. I had been making soup earlier that week, so I was brainstorming that I should give an artichoke soup a try. And an idea was born.

The next week, I saw that some nice sized artichokes were on sale at the market
(About $0.69 a lb.) so I bought 6 of them and gave it a try.

It’s a bit of work and kind of time consuming, because you have to steam the
artichokes first to get the leaves and choke off. But in the end, I really don’t
mind spending the time, if the end result is good. This came out pretty good. I’ll
probably experiment with it and tweak it out more the next few times I make it.

Sauté the onions, carrots and celery about 5 minutes.
Add a few grinds of salt and a few of pepper.
Add artichoke hearts, (quartered) garlic and thyme.
Keep sautéing for another 2 minutes.
Add stock and bring heat up to medium.
Add cheese and stir.
When soup starts to boil, reduce to low and simmer for at least an hour.
Taste broth and season with salt and pepper.

When ready to serve use emersion blender to blend everything smooth. (No need for cream!)
Ladle into bowls and top with fresh ground pepper and chopped chives.

I also had some homemade croutons I made out of French baguette. (Cut into cubes, tossed with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and into a 350 degree oven till brown)